V1 user search API is ignoring filter on lastModified

Question

I am trying to fetch users using the v1 GET search user endpoint - https://api.atlassian.com/ex/confluence//wiki/rest/api/searchuser?cql=type=user and lastModified >= "2026-03-28" and lastModified < "2026-04-28" But the API ignores the date filters on lastModified and returns all the users data. Content search endpoint(https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/confluence/rest/v1/api-group-search/#api-wiki-rest-api-search-get) also support CQL date filter and it works fine but the user search endpoint doesn't return bad request and silently ignores the CQL date filter. Document mentions of supporting cql expression for this endpoint- https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/confluence/rest/v1/api-group-search/#api-wiki-rest-api-search-user-get How to execute the endpoint with data filtered on the date range?

Evgenii · Accepted Answer

Hi @Dheeraj Kholia (xWF),

That's expected behavior, unfortunately. The user search endpoint only supports the user-specific CQL fields: user, user.fullname, user.accountid, user.userkey (it's stated in the endpoint description you linked). lastModified is a content field, users don't have that property in the search index at all. So there is no way to make this endpoint filter by date.

If the goal is to catch users changed within a period (sync scenario), Confluence APIs can't give you that.

But if you have an organization admin access, you can query the org audit log events with REST API, filtered by date range, user lifecycle changes show up there with timestamps.